I’m about to finish up my junior year of college and I just can’t figure out what more I can do to getting a good internship. Been applying last the Fall and went to three careers fair since then, with no luck. I’ve had the career center department at my school, review my resume twice and they usually just end up saying something like “get more extra-curriculars” or continue on working to pull your GPA up.
Just to give a brief overview of my credentials;
3.4 BBA in Accounting (ongoing) & 4.0 Accounting GPA (out of 4 acct classes)
State School
Member of Beta Alpha Psi
QuickBooks ProAdvisor - Silver
Fulfillment Specialist @ Paychex (ongoing)
Just feel like from reading posts from this forum, other than getting your CPA, Big 4 experience is the most critical thing every potential accountant needs in order to be successful (minus luck). So I’m kinda worried that if I can’t get an internship or experience at the Big 4, that I’m going to be doomed.
Don’t only look at the big 4. Getting an internship at the big 4 would be great but it’s very competitive. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. There are other well-respected accounting firms such as Grant Thornton
Saying you are doomed without Big 4 experience is like saying you are doomed if you don’t go to an Ivy League school. Both statements would be untrue. Many people go on and have nice careers without Big 4 experience. If you can get into a Big 4 firm that is great but you also can have a fine career without it. There are smaller international CPA firms, more local CPA firms, and private companies which can all provide you with great experiences.
As previously stated, you can have a fine career in public account without working at a Big 4. If you can get on with the Big 4 great, if not then look to BDO, Grant, Moss, McGladery, etc. If not there, then large local CPA firms in your area. If not large locals, then small CPA firms. You get the picture.
Keep getting good grades, pass the CPA and stop worrying about the Big 4. There’s a great career out there waiting for you, go make it happen!
Well that’s very reassuring! I just know like 99% of the posts on this forum say everyone should get at least a couple of years of Big 4 experience. Then realizing that although my school does get recruitted for Big 4 occassionally, they usually recruit from Vanderbilt, UGA, Georgia Tech, and Emory. So my gpa/school name combo, although it’s not terrible, it probably does eliminate me from getting the interviews.
Ultimately, it just made me worried that even if I got my CPA, I’d be stuck bookkeeping or something.
You’re in Beta Alpha Psi, so you already have good accounting grades. Your good accounting grades will mean more to employers than what you got in sociology 201.
And stop apologizing for your school, I’m sure there are plenty of successful CPAs who went there. Does the accounting society or BAP put on any events with accounting alums from your school? Something like that would be a good place to focus some networking efforts.
Is there anyway to find internships outside of career fairs? I know my school has a website that hosts all the job openings and internship postings, but there’s hardly any available that are even business related other than marketing and sales, which to be honest, seem like they are just unpaid (or commission-based) salesmen jobs.
Go knock of the doors of smaller CPA firms in your area (for real). Tell them you know it’s tax season, and you want to know if they need help with anything at all.
Tell them you have 4.0 in your accounting classes and you just want to get your foot in the door in public accounting. If you came to my firm and did that, I would try to find something for you to do. Even better if you can find graduates from your school.
Some CPAs will be too busy to deal with it, but somebody might want some help. It won’t fall in your lap, you have to go grab it.
You can try to contact accounting firms as well as private companies in your area. My S could only find an unpaid internship in the summer between his junior and senior year and then he got a paid internship the summer between his graduation and starting his MS in Accounting program.
Get some work experience through an internship, regardless if the internship is in accounting, public accounting or finance. You can later apply to a Masters in Accounting or Tax program. Research which Masters program the accounting firms or Big 4 recruit at and apply to those schools. It looks like you have the GPA to get into a program. If you want to pursue a CPA, many states require an additional year of course work, which is equivalent to a Masters degree, to get a CPA license.
You can try sites like indeed. They sometimes post internships on there. You can also try a temp agency. They may not have internships put they may have summer temp jobs. Also google local CPA firms in the area. Find a contact person within the firm and send them your resume with a kick ass cover letter. Make sure you follow up after you send the resume.
I agree. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Experience in one of the big 4 looks amazing for the name. However, if the chances of you getting hands-on experience or much responsibility in one of those companies is very unlikely. Having experience in a smaller firm where you had more responsibility and input in the work may actually be more impressive for an interviewer.